At dinner, a well-dressed man came up to the table. "Excuse me, are you Leah Farmer?” He asked.
“Rob?” I asked in return, and he smiled.
“Mama Cass said you might be interested in talking?” he replied.
“Mama Cass? The singer?” Emmy asked, puzzled.
“No, he means his mother-in-law, Cassady. She was the ship’s naturalist,” I explained. Turning to Rob, I asked, “Can we talk after dinner?”
“Of course,” he said. “Of course. That would be perfect.”
After he left, Angela asked what that was about. I explained that Rob was the general manager of the restaurant, and it had come up in conversation with Cassady that the owners might be interested in selling.
“Ah,” Angela said. “And you might be interested in buying.”
“Exactly.”
“Is this a thing that happens?” Mia asked, curious. “You just go around buying restaurants and shi- things like that?”
“Yeah, pretty much,” I agreed.
“So, like, how does that work? You just walk up and say, ‘Nice place you got here. Wanna sell it to me?’” she asked.
“Um, more or less, yeah,” I said. “In this case, his mother-in-law mentioned that he ran this place, I said we’d eaten here and liked it, and she said it may not be in business much longer, because of reasons. I said I might be interested in talking to the owners, and that was that. She must have called Rob almost immediately after we left the ship in Ketchikan, telling him about it. If he’s already talked to the owners, this might be an easy deal.”
“So, what’s a place like this cost to buy? And if it’s circling the drain, why would you want to buy it anyway?” Mia asked, not to push my buttons but more because she was curious.
“Cassady said the business is slowing down because fewer evening diners are coming in, so that’s problem number one for the owners. If their costs keep rising, which they always do, but revenue is gradually decreasing, they can either try raising prices, or fold up the tent, right? Well, maybe the prices can’t really be raised enough to make up the difference, because of competition, or because the higher prices will drive business away,” I explained, then realized I was wandering too far off in the weeds.
“Anyhow, their business is looking bad long-term, right? Well, I might be able to change the dynamics a bit- leverage our scale and experience to find margins the current owners can’t. That’s my opportunity,” I said.
“Why would you even want to buy a restaurant that’s on its way out?” Mia persisted.
“There are a few reasons this place might be a good fit for us, but I’m going to have to look at the numbers and see if it does actually make sense. There are a lot of moving parts, and they need to line up just right. Talking to Rob tonight, I’ll get a good feel for whether to take the next steps or not.”
“O.K., I guess that makes sense,” Mia conceded. Then, changing topics, she asked, “Hey, will you need me later tonight?”
“Once Emmy and Angela get settled back at the hotel, no, I don’t think so,” I replied. “Got a hot date?”
“Me and my boi, we talked about hittin’ the club later,” Mia admitted.
“Knock yourself out, but remember, we have to be at the airport by ten in the morning.”
“Roger that,” Mia said. “Will you need me before, say, nine in the morning?”
I shook my head and said, “Go get ‘em, tiger.”
When I got back to the suite after my conversation with Rob, Angela said, “I thought Mia was gay?”
“She is,” I agreed, relaxing on the suite’s comfy couch.
Angela came over and sat on the edge, using her butt to scoot my legs in a bit. “So why is she out with a boy?”
I chuckled a bit, reaching out to pull her on top of me, which she was happy to do. “Not boy B O Y, boi B O I,” I said. “There are tons of labels for gay subgroups, For example, you and Emmy fit into the classic ‘femme’ group, sometimes called ‘lipstick lesbians’. Mia and I, we’re more ‘butch’, which is more typically thought of as showing masculine traits, right?”
“You’re not masculine,” Angela protested. “You’re very much a woman.” She emphasized the point by squeezing my boob, making me laugh.
“Well, none of these terms are set in stone, right? You’re muscular, too, but very, very feminine at the same time,” I said, giving her boob a return squeeze. “These are just stereotypes, ways for people to pigeonhole themselves or others to be able to make quick judgements, that’s all. Anyhow, a boi B O I is typically a youngish lesbian who presents in a very masculine manner. They usually look like teenage boys or young men, and generally carry their, um, self-image into the bedroom, too, from what I understand. Mia- and this is between you and me- mentioned that she liked that aspect.”
“What do you mean?” Angela asked, her forehead wrinkled in that adorable way of hers.
“It means they usually wear strap-ons during sex, and often just wear them around a lot of the rest of the time. At least, that’s the way I understand it. To be honest, I haven’t, um, looked into it too much.”
“Strap-ons? You mean those things?” Angela asked, making a rude gesture as if she were stroking a cock between her legs.
“Exactly,” I agreed. “So, Mia once told me she likes it when a boi really pounds her good with it. It’s some kind of kink or fetish thing I can’t say I really understand, but honestly, that doesn’t matter at all. As long as Mia and her partners are all into it, it makes no difference to me.”
Angela was quiet for a moment, then asked, “Have you ever tried with one of those?”
“A strap-on?” I asked. “No, never. I dunno… It kinda seems a bit too, well, removed for me, I guess. I mean, I can understand the attraction, but I like to actually feel the person I’m making love to, you know what I mean?”
“If… If you ever do, I would do it with you,” Angela said, timidly. “If you want, I mean.”
“Ange, is that something you think you want?” I asked, my voice gentle. “If it is, it’s something we can do.”
“I… don’t know? Maybe?” Angela said, making me wonder if she did sometimes miss the big D. Angela hadn’t ever considered herself gay, and I think even at this point still didn’t really identify that way, so maybe this was some sort of issue that had been lying dormant.
“Why do you two seem so serious?” Emmy asked as she entered the room, toweling off her hair.
“Talking about sex,” I said.
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“That is a very serious subject,” Emmy said with a smile. “Were you talking about having sex now? Because if so, I would like to watch.”
“You want to watch us have sex?” Angela asked, a saucy smile on her face.
“I adore watching you two,” Emmy said, sitting down on the easy chair, casually letting the towel she had wrapped around herself drop open.
Angela sat up, straddling me. She rocked her hips on mine, squeezing her boobs with her hands. “Oh, baby!” she said, then winked at Emmy.
“That is a good start, but you are wearing too many clothes,” Emmy objected. “Take them off. Now.”
It felt a little strange performing for Emmy, but if Angela was willing, I was happy to put on a show for Emmy. It certainly wouldn’t be a hardship to make love to Angela, after all.
Angela started to pull off her top, but I took her hands in mine. “Let me,” I said, getting a smile from my dark-haired lover.
I sat upright and wrapped Angela up in my arms, looking into Angela’s pretty, youthful face. She closed her eyes and leaned in to me, our lips meeting in a long, slow, delicious kiss, our tongues meeting then sliding over each other in a playful, loving way.
When we parted, she looked into my eyes. Her big, baby blues were so innocent, her smile so guileless, so pure… This was a woman who let her emotions show, and at that moment the emotion that I saw in her was love, simple affection. I had no doubt in my mind that she loved me.
She reached down to the hem of my fleece sweater and pulled it up, so I raised my arms to allow her to remove it entirely. Angela left my arms tangled in the sweater above my head, using the opportunity to slide her hands up under my tank top base layer, sliding it above my breasts, exposing them to her touch (and Emmy’s eyes).
I made a show of struggling to free myself from the sleeves of the sweater, but we all knew it was part of the game.
Angela took my breasts in her hands, gently cupping them, lightly pinching my nipples as she did. She hunched down and took a nipple in her mouth, playing with it with her tongue, while ever so softly scraping her teeth against the underside.
I was grateful that Emmy had taught her that trick, since it felt amazing. Letting myself succumb to the sensation, I fell back against the armrest, using the sweater still wrapped around my arms to pull Angela down with me. She continued to lavish attention on my chest, kissing her way from one boob to the other, one nipple getting love, then feeling abandoned as its twin received attention.
Eventually Angela kissed her way to my sternum, then down my belly, resettling herself between my knees on the couch. As she reached my belly button, she teased it with her tongue, tickling me in the most delightful way imaginable. Her hands were busy with my pants, unbuttoning and then unzipping, but not pulling down.
Angela repositioned herself between me and the back of the couch, lying on her side so she could go back to teasing my breasts with her mouth while her hand found its way down inside my pants.
I was very, very aroused by this point. I’d never said so to Emmy or Angela, but it turned me on when they took control and led things in bed, and this little bit of dominance and submission play was absolutely doing it for me.
Angela’s fingers found what they were searching for, and soon she was collecting my moisture, allowing her fingers to slip and slide freely across all my most sensitive spots, which she had come to know well.
She used long, smooth strokes, fingers gliding up and down either side of my hood, applying just enough friction to drive me mad but not enough to give me release. Angela used her other hand to hold my arms up above my head, still imprisoned in the fleece pullover, adding to the dominance play.
I glanced over at Emmy, only to find her mesmerized, watching us intently, one hand on her breast, the other buried between her legs. The sight of Emmy getting herself off while watching Angie and me did a little something for me, and my first little orgasm made me clamp my legs on Angela’s hand.
Angela wasn’t done with me, though, so she pushed my arms up again and used her other hand to move my legs apart, returning to her task, but this time, sliding first one, then two fingers inside me while she used the heel of her hand to put pressure on my pearl.
I tried, but I just couldn’t keep my eyes open as the sensations washed over me, radiating both from my center and the nipple Angela was gently nibbling on. The combination of incredible pleasure and admittedly mild pain was excruciatingly intense, and it didn’t take me long before a much larger climax crashed over me, waves of electricity running through my body, leaving me completely overwhelmed.
“That was so hot,” Emmy said, her voice barely audible over the ringing in my ears.
“I loved that,” Angela said, slowly withdrawing her fingers. “I love making her feel like that.”
“I love feeling like that,” I said, my voice husky, my legs still trembling a little.
Emmy came over, completely abandoning the towel on the chair. She gently extricated my arms from the pullover, then lifted my tank top up and over my head before tossing it on the floor by the fleece. Next she turned to my hiking boots, untying and removing them, then my socks, which allowed her to pull my pants and panties off in turn.
Satisfied, she turned her attention to Angela, and stripped her naked, too. Once Emmy had both of us completely bare, she took our hands and pulled us up and off the couch and to the suite’s big, comfortable bed.
I’d expected that Emmy would sit on my face or something, but that wasn’t what she wanted. She settled herself down in between Angela and me, drawing us both in close, wrapping herself in us.
“I love you both so much,” she said, her voice trembling a bit. “I love this, I love us, our household of three. I love that we are each so different, but together we are better than we could possibly be apart.”
“Em, baby,” Angela said, nuzzling Emmy’s slender neck. “We love you. Lee loves you so much, and I love you like crazy, too. This, the three of us, it’s the best thing that’s ever happened to me. I’m pretty sure it’s the best thing that’s ever happened to anybody, ever, in the whole world.”
Emmy laughed at that and then kissed Angela, then me. “I must agree,” she said.
I reached around Emmy’s slender body to pull Angela in tighter, squeezing Emmy between us. We stayed like that, holding, stroking and kissing each other until we all gradually fell asleep.
I used the hotel’s gym in the morning, pleased to be able to get in a good workout for the first time in what seemed like forever. Sure, I’d done a bit on the boat and the one day kayaking, but it was good to actually lift heavy things and then put them down again, over and over.
Emmy and Angela had ordered room service and were eating when I got back to the room. “We got breakfast for you, too,” Angela said, pointing at the third plate at the table. “Huevos Rancheros,” she added.
“Thanks, babe,” I said, giving her, then Emmy kisses. “Are you guys going to be ready to go in,” I said, glancing at my watch, “forty-five minutes or so?”
“What do you mean?” Emmy asked. “You aren’t coming with us to Los Angeles?”
“I’ve got a few things to wrap up here before going home,” I said. “It’ll take me another day or two. But Grant will pick you guys up at the airport.”
“We could stay here, with you,” Angela volunteered. “We don’t have to go back to LA right away, if you need to stay here for a little bit longer.” Turning to Emmy, she asked, “Right? We can stay for another couple of days?”
Emmy looked uncomfortable, finally saying that she had recording sessions planned with Lee and Jackson, but she could probably put them off for a few days…
“No, I appreciate it, but you guys go ahead back home. I’ll be following right behind you in a couple of days,” I said.
“I’m gonna miss you,” Angela said.
“Me, too,” Emmy said, looking sad.
“And I’ll miss you guys, but it’s just a couple of days.”
After seeing the jet off, Mia and I climbed back into the Range Rover to head back to Downtown.
“So, how did it go this last week? You get things sorted out for the newbies?” I asked once we’d gotten on the freeway.
“Yeah, pretty much,” Mia said. “Michael knew just what to do, and I followed his instructions.”
“The two guys- Any problems sending them off to San Jose?”
“Well, I mean, no, but I hadda drive ‘em down, you know? Fifteen hours is a long drive with two guys you’d never met before,” Mia said.
“Yeah, I can see that. Thanks for doing that.”
“Well, I mean, you’re the boss, and if you tell me to jump, well, I’ll jump as high as I can,” Mia said. “Sure, it was a long couple of days of driving, but whatevs.”
“And the other two? The couple?”
“Michael really didn’t have me do anything with them,” Mia said with a shrug. “Just the two guys.”
“And they didn’t give you any problems?”
“Nah, not at all. They seemed excited about starting new lives, so they were super respectful and quiet,” Mia said.
“That’s good to hear. Any updates on the New York Night Children?” I asked.
“I’ve been compiling a database, assigning them tags for the facial recognition software,” Mia said. “I’m pretty sure we’ve got most of them- it’s been quite a while since any new ones showed their faces.”
“Have you figured out who owns that building?” I asked as we exited the freeway.
“It’s not really clear,” Mia said. “I kinda think nobody does. From what I’ve been able to dig up, it’s officially listed as abandoned, but for some reason hasn’t been tagged for auction or demolition. It clearly still has water and power, so somebody is paying the bills.”
“Maybe it doesn’t matter. You haven’t identified any other gathering spots, right? So we can assume the place in Queens is their headquarters,” I said.
“Brooklyn,” Mia corrected as we pulled up to the valet stand in front of the hotel. “It’s actually in Brooklyn, right by the border of Queens, in an area called East New York, if that isn’t confusing enough.”
We had the elevator to ourselves, so I asked, “How caught up on all this is your dad?”
“Very,” Mia said. “He and Jody have physically cased the area out, and drawn up attack plans.”
“Hopefully it won’t come to that,” I said. Then, as the elevator reached her floor, I said, “I’m going across the street to talk to Rob again. You’re welcome to come and have lunch. If not, I’ll need a ride at three.”
“It’s cool. If you don’t need me, I’ll chill. See you at three, boss.”